How many people are attending Sunday services? How much money are people giving? How many people are serving? For many churches, these types of numbers are commonly used to measure success. But maybe the best number in your community is actually zero. Dave Gibbons shares that when Jesus shows up in our churches and neighborhoods, he doesn't just bring about inflation of crowds, but real, systemic transformation.
About Dave Gibbons
Dave is the Lead Pastor and Chief Visionary at Newsong Church in Santa Ana, CA. He is also the Founder and Chief Vision Officer at Xealots, a human development group focusing on helping Creatives, Innovators, and Artists find their destiny. Subsplash has been blessed to partner with Dave and Newsong over the last handful of years, and we have been deeply impacted by his perspectives on training up leaders and engaging with culture. We hope his insight in the video above is encouraging to you as you seek the welfare of your cities (Jeremiah 29:7). To learn more about Newsong, download their app here. You can also check out Dave's books by following this link.
About the video
We had the privilege of visiting with Dave during one of our trips to Southern California last year. We were so encouraged by our conversation with him that we asked midway through if we could record some of his thoughts, and he kindly agreed. So there we were, sitting in Dave's living room discussing church and culture, with Dave speaking into the mic. We couldn't keep the conversation to ourselves, though, so we decided to create a visual representation to go along with Dave's thoughts. The laundromat in the video represents the process of renewal and transformation, as clothes change from dirty to clean.
Is there something God has placed on your heart that you'd like to share as an encouragement to fellow pastors and church leaders? We'd love to hear about it! Let us know at hello@subsplash.com.